After a calorific luncheon of Christmas cake we reluctantly left Eilean nan Gamhna and we were soon heading south towards the Sound of Mull. A skein of Canada geese flew overhead with whooshing wing beats. Our progress was not so rapid and it was obvious we would be returning in darkness again.
In the distance the MV Isle of Mull ferry entered the Sound of Mull on her way to Craignure between the Lady's Rock lighthouse and the the Eilean Musdile lighthouse. In the distance, the mountains of Mull soared up from the Sound.
As we were running out of time, we decided to cut through the narrow channel to the north of the lighthouse by Rubha Fiart. This would save 1.8km and after our recent trip round the Mull of Galloway, neither Tony nor I felt we had anything to prove.
As we entered the narrow channel at the south of Lismore, the tide had already turned. It was now flooding strongly and carried us westward towards distant Duart Castle on the south shore of the Sound of Mull.
We were now leaving the Lynn of Lorn and were soon expelled into the waters where the Sound of Mull joins the mouth of Loch Linnhe.
Feeling rather bloated after all this exertion, we drifted in the tide for a while...
... before digging our blades into the glassy waters on the way to our next stop on the tidal island of Bernera.
27/12/2008